1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to systems that maintain information in the form of a master data record, and specifically to data records that are compiled from trusted data sources.
2. Background
Legal entities such as private or public corporations (referred to herein as an Enterprise) typically need to gather and maintain a store of information or data that serves to support their business activities. In this context, business activities can include such things as sales, marketing, manufacturing, procurement activities and other activities, and this information or data is typically referred to as management information. This management information is typically stored at a location within the Enterprise that allows it to be easily maintained and quickly accessible by individuals or systems which can be located at that location or at a remote location within the Enterprise. Depending upon the size of an Enterprise, the number of locations in which management information is stored can become quite large. Typically, for an Enterprise to conduct its business in a consistent manner, it is beneficial that separate instances of similar management information maintained at different locations within the Enterprise be substantially the same. However, as the number of management information storage locations within an Enterprise and external to the Enterprise grow, the probability increases that each instance of similar management information can include data that does not match that which is stored at the other locations (i.e., each instance is not homogeneous). One cause leading to dissimilarity between management information records can be that the information for each record is received from different data sources. Another cause leading to dissimilarity between management information records is related to these records being built by different systems using different schemas. Each of the locations in which management information is stored or received from is referred to herein as a management information/data source or simply a data source (DS), and a DS can be an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, a server with associated computer storage medium, a personal computer, a subscription data source external to the Enterprise network but to which the Enterprise subscribes, or any source of management information internal or external to the Enterprise Network. The management information stored in some or all of the data sources is typically accessible by individuals working for the Enterprise or devices operating in the Enterprise to perform certain tasks such as the procurement of materials to support the manufacturing process or other processes.
In order to mitigate the problems associated with maintaining separate but similar stores of management information at different locations, an Enterprise can build and maintain a single, master repository of management information, and such a repository is typically referred to as a Master Database. A Master Data Management (MDM) system is typically employed by the Enterprise to build and maintain the master database. A MDM system generally operates to build a master database using management information that it receives (pulls) from data sources that are in communication with the MDM over the enterprise network, or any other type of local or wide area network employed by a corporation to distribute management information. The MDM system can also push management information to data sources with which it is connected. The master database typically includes a plurality of master records, each one of which can include information that is used to support any one of the corporation's activities, such as a procurement activity. In this case, a master record can be comprised of information relating to a particular supplier, and it can be built using supplier information received by the MDM system from one or more data sources with which it is in communication over the enterprise network. FIG. 1 illustrates an Enterprise Network 10 that is comprised of a MDM system 11 and four DSs, DS.12-DS.15. In the context of FIG. 1, DS.15 represents an external data source (e.g., Equifax or Dunn & Bradstreet) located outside the Enterprise Network to which the MDM can subscribe to receive management information, DS.12 can represent an ERP system operating in support of an Enterprise financial operation, DS.13 can be a personal computer device running a business application that is used by a particular individual working for the Enterprise, and DS.14 can be another ERP system operating in support of an Enterprise business unit (such as sales or manufacturing). Some or all of the data sources can communicate with the MDM via the same or different communication protocols. So, for instance, DS.12 can communicate over a wide area network link (e.g., IP) using the well known File Transport Protocol (FTP), DS.13 can communication over a local area network link (e.g., Ethernet) and so forth. In operation, the MDM 11 can periodically request or receive and store management information from any of the four data sources DS.12-DS.15, and this stored management information can be made available to individuals or systems in the Enterprise with permission to access the information. For instance, MDM 11 can receive financial management information from data source DS.12, and it can receive supplier management information from data source DS.15.